


Nicole Potter

by AFanofALotofThings227



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A bit of a Slow-Burn, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Harry has a sister, Lucius Malfoy Bashing, Most other characters appear at least once, Muggle-born in Slytherin, OCs in all but name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:41:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28899825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFanofALotofThings227/pseuds/AFanofALotofThings227
Summary: What if Harry Potter had a twin sister who The Dark Lord never got to try and kill? What if she was sorted into Slytherin? And what if she fell in love with Harry's biggest rival?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Lily Moon/Sophie Roper
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. The Girl Who Was There

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Harry Potter or most of the characters, but Nicole belongs to me. Lily, Sophie & Daphne I did not create their names, but everything else about them belongs to me.

Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, as he noticed someone was there.

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall," he said.

"How did you know it was me?" McGonagall asked.

"I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly," Dumbledore answered.

"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said McGonagall.

“Oh yes, I’ve celebrating, all right,” she said impatiently. “You’d think they’d be a bit more careful, but no —even the Muggles have noticed something’s going on. It was on their news.” She jerked her head back at the Dursleys’ dark living-room window. “I heard it. Flocks of owls…shooting stars…Well, they’re not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I’ll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense.”

“You can’t blame them,” said Dumbledore gently. “We’ve had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.”

“I know that,” said Professor McGonagall irritably. “But that’s no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors.” She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though, hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn’t, so she went on. “A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone,  
Dumbledore?”

“It certainly seems so,” said Dumbledore. “We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?”

“A what?”

“A lemon drop. They’re a kind of Muggle sweet I’m rather fond of.”

“No, thank you,” said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn’t think this was the moment for lemon drops. “As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —”

“My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this ‘You-Know-Who’ nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort.” Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. “It all gets so confusing if we keep saying ‘You-Know Who.’ I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort’s name.”

“I know you haven’t, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. “But you’re different. Everyone knows you’re the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of.”

“You flatter me,” said Dumbledore calmly. “Voldemort had powers I will never have.”

“Only because you’re too — well — noble to use them.”

“It’s lucky it’s dark. I haven’t blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.”

Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said “The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what they’re saying? About why he’s disappeared? About what finally stopped him?”

It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever “everyone” was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.

Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.

“What they’re saying,” she pressed on, “is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric’s Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they’re — dead.”

Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.

“Lily and James…I can’t believe it…I didn’t want to believe it…Oh, Albus…”

Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “I know…I know…” he said heavily.

Professor McGonagall's voice trembled on as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying that he tried to kill one of their kids, Harry. But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."

Dumbledore nodded glumly.

"“It’s — it’s true?” faltered Professor McGonagall. “After all he’s done... all the people he’s killed…he couldn’t kill a little boy? It’s just astounding…of all the things to stop him…but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?”

"We can only guess," Dumbledore said. "We may never know."

"And what about their other child?" McGonagall pointed out. "Nobody's mentioning their daughter Nicole. Did she get out okay?"

"Voldemort couldn't even get to her," Dumbledore explained. "I guess he decided to kill Harry first, but couldn't get to his twin."

Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, “Hagrid’s late. I suppose it was he who told you I’d be here, by the way?”

“Yes,” said Professor McGonagall. “And I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me why you’re here, of all places?”

"I've come to bring Harry & Nicole to their aunt and uncle," Dumbledore said. "They're the only family they have left now."

"You don't mean, the people who live here?" McGonagall questioned, jumping at her feet and pointing to Number Four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people that are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry & Nicole Potter can't come and live here!"

"It's the best place for them," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything when they're older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you can't possibly think you can explain this in a letter? These people will never understand them! Harry will be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if this day was known as Harry Potter Day in the future - there will be books written about Harry! Every child in the world will know his name!"

"Exactly!" claimed Dumbledore. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he can't even remember! Not to mention his sister would be living in his shadow, jealous of all the attention her brother got while she was just The Girl Who Was There! Can you see how much better off they'll be, growing up away from all that until they're ready to take it?"

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said "Yes, yes, you're right, of course - but how are the twins getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry & Nicole under it.

"Hagrid's bringing them."

"You think it's wise to trust Hagrid with something important as this?"

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," McGonagall explained. "But you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"

A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them. 

If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding two bundles of blankets.

“Hagrid,” said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. “At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?”

“Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir,” said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. “Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I’ve got him, sir.”

“No problems, were there?”

“No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin’ around. He fell asleep as we was flyin’ over Bristol.”

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundles of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy and a baby girl, both fast asleep. On Harry's forehead, they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.

"Is that where-?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "He'll have that scar forever."

"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" McGonagall asked.

"Even if I could, I wouldn't," Dumbledore said. "Scars can come in handy. I have one myself in my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give them here, Hagrid. Let's get this over with."

Dumbledore took Harry & Nicole in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house.

"Could I - could I say goodbye to them, sir?" Hagrid asked. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry & Nicole and gave them what must've been very scratchy, whiskery kisses. Then suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall. "You'll wake the muggles!"

"Sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted hankerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it! Lily and James dead - and poor Harry & Nicole off to live with the muggles!"

"Yes, yes, it's very sad, but get a grip on yourself Hagrid, or we'll be found," McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry & Nicole gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, and put it in between their blankets. For a full minute, the three of them stood and looked at the bundles. Hagrid's shoulders shook, McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seem to have gone out.

"Well," Dumbledore said. "That's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join in the celebrations."

"Yeah," said Hagrid. "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back, Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore, sir."

Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle, and kicked the engine to life; with a roar, it rose off into the air and off into the night.

"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said. McGonagall blew her nose in reply.

Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out McGonagall, now turned back into a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of  
the street. He could just see the bundles of blankets on the step of number four.

"Good luck Harry," Dumbledore said. "And good luck Nicole."

A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry and Nicole Potter rolled over inside their blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside them and they slept on, one not knowing he was special, not knowing one of them was famous, not knowing they would be woken in a few hours’ time by Mrs. Dursley’s scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that they would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley....He couldn’t know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: “To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!” And occasionally saying, "And Nicole Potter, The Girl That Was There!"


	2. Life with The Dursleys

Nearly ten years have passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew and niece on their doorstep, but Privet Drive had barely changed at all. In fact, only the photographs on the mantlepiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different coloured bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and the photographs now showed a large blonde boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign of the two twins who lived in the house.

Yet Harry & Nicole Potter lay there, asleep at the moment, in their bedroom, which was clouding with cobwebs everywhere, with a floor the Dursleys never bothered to clean, or asked the twins to clean, even though he asked them to clean every other room in the house once a week, even if there was not a speck of dust there. Of course, it couldn't be worse. It's not like they could put two twins in The Cupboard Under the Stairs.

They didn't care.

The two twins woke up when they heard their Aunt Petunia awake, and it was her shrill voice that made the first voice of the day.

"Up! Get up! Both of you!" Petunia said.

The two woke up with a start. "Wow, we definitely got enough sleep there," Nicole whispered sarcastically.

"Be quiet," Harry said to his sister, "She'll hear us!"

Nicole was a lot more rebellious than Harry. Of course, she couldn't afford to be disobedient, not when she lived with the Dursleys, but she stood up for herself & Harry more. Most of the time in private, she would rant more about how terrible their life was than Harry. Despite this, her and Harry remained very close. They always had been. Probably because they had both had basically the same life, they just dealt with it in different ways. They were the only friends each other had, especially in school. They don't know what they would've done without each other.

"Up!" Petunia screeched again. They heard her walking towards the kitchen, then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. Harry rolled onto his back, looking like he was remembering the dream he was having. It looked like it had been a good one. While Nicole was just thinking about what was going on in the Dursley's heads.

"We need to get up," she said.

"Are you two up yet?!" Petunia continued to shout, from the other side of the door.

"I am, he isn't," Nicole said, as she walked to the door. She realized that Harry must've not remembered what day it was. He was probably wondering why Nicole was so eager to get up, when Harry was known in the house as the well-behaved twin.

"Well, tell him to get a move on!" Petunia said. "In the meantime, come and look after the bacon. And don't you let it burn! I want everything to be perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Harry groaned.

"What did you just say?" Petunia said to Harry.

"Nothing," Harry said.

When they were sure Petunia had gone downstairs, they started to talk, like they always did every morning, but this time, the Dursleys were of course more eager, so they had less time.

"How could I have forgotten about Dudley's birthday?!" Harry moaned.

"I remembered," Nicole said.

"Then why didn't you remind me?" Harry asked.

"I thought you were smart enough to remember yourself," Nicole said. "But never mind that, we have to get up now!"

Nicole got some clothes out of her wardrobe, which had spiders all over it of course, and walked to the bathroom. Harry got dressed in the bedroom, unusual for him since Nicole wasn't usually the first out of bed.

When they were dressed, they both walked downstairs to the kitchen. The table, as it was always every year, was covered with Dudley's birthday presents. Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted one was a mystery to the twins - as they have been talking about for ages, he was very fat and hated exercise, unless of course it involved punching somebody, which was usually Harry, usually if Nicole wasn't there to stop him. But then he would punch Nicole instead. He didn't care if she was a girl.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a small dark room, but Harry & Nicole had always been pretty skinny for their age. Most of the clothes Harry wore were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was four times as big as he was. Nicole on the other hand, wore the same clothes almost every day, because the Dursleys barely ever bought some new ones for her. Once every 6 months at most. No, they didn't do it for their birthday - she doubts they ever remember it. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes, Nicole's appearance was similar, but far from the same. Her eyes were brown for one, and her hair was slightly lighter, and while her knees were as knobbly as Harry, her face was slightly bigger. Harry wore round glasses held together with a lot of scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. Nicole did not wear glasses, as her sight was more clear, but that didn't help.

Harry's appearance was helped by a very thin scar on his forehead, shaped like a bolt of lightning, but Nicole had no such scar. Her forehead was completely clean. He's had it as long as they could both remember, and the first question the twins can ever remember asking was how Harry got it.

"In the car crash were your parents died," was what she said. "And don't ask questions."

"But if that's true," Nicole said. "Why haven't I got one?"

"I said no more questions!" Petunia shouted, as she punished her, even though she told Harry no more questions, but said nothing to Nicole. So Nicole had no idea why Harry had a scar from the crash, while Nicole got out completely uninjured. It's like she wasn't even there. Nicole thought they might be lying - that their parents died in a different way, but Harry kept denying it thinking why would they lie to them? Nicole said that they're the Dursleys, and Harry then said that she had a good point.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Nicole was turning over the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" he said as a morning greeting.

"Which one of us are you talking to?" Nicole asked.

"Both of you!" Vernon shouted.

About once a week, Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry probably had more haircuts than any boys in the class put together, but it made no difference. His hair grew that way, simply all over the place. While with Nicole, her hair was really messy that he asked her to comb it every day. Of course, she rarely got haircuts, but she did get her hair done a lot.

When Nicole had finished with the bacon, she said to Harry, "I'll comb my hair, you do the eggs."

"Okay," Harry said, as he started getting the eggs ready. After the twins were done, Harry put the bacon and eggs on the table, as Nicole came in, super annoyed, but trying to hide her emotions because even facial expressions can be enough to get someone into trouble in The Dursley household. Dudley was counting his presents. How he knew how to count past ten, Nicole had no idea.

"Thirty-six," he said, being annoyed. "That's two less than last year!"

It's still more presents than any other child in existence! Nicole thought angrily.

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present," Petunia said. "See, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty seven then!" Dudley said, still having a tantrum like a 5-year old. Or even a 3-year old. While Harry began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible, while Nicole was standing there, moaning to herself. Wanting to rant so much, but of course they would hear her.

Of course, the two did get time to themselves, mostly when Vernon & Petunia couldn't bother to tell them to do chores. They enjoyed that. But it of course wasn't enough.

Petunia obviously scented danger too, as she said. "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin?"

"So I'll have thirty... thirty...," Dudley thought. This was why Nicole was surprised he could count.

"Thirty-nine sweetums," Petunia interuppted.

"Oh," Dudley said. "All right then."

"Phew," Harry & Nicole whispered simultaneously.

Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

At the moment the telephone rang, Aunt Petunia went to answer it, while Harry, Nicole & Vernon watched Dudley open his presents. They saw the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping off the wrapping paper off a gold wristwatch, when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking angry and worried. Which means it was good news.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs Figg's broken her leg! She can't take them!"

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, while Nicole's heart gave a leap, and she could tell Harry was feeling the same. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants (for all 3 meals of the day), or the movies. Every year, the twins were left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. The two hated it there, the whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made them look at all the photographs of every cat she's ever owned.

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at the twins, like one or both of them planned this, which to be fair, Nicole totally would've if given the chance, yes she should feel sorry for Mrs. Figg, but it wasn't easy when she remembered when she reminded herself she & Harry wouldn't have to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws and Tufty again.

"We could phone, Marge," suggested Vernon.

No. That would be even worse, thought Nicole.

"Don't be silly, Vernon," Petunia said. "You know she hates the child."

Nicole sighed in relief. The Dursleys did often talk about the twins like this, as though they weren't there, or rather as though they were nasty stuff like a slug and a snail.

"What about what's-her-name?" Vernon suggested again. "Your friend Yvonne."

"On vacation in Majorca," Petunia said.

"You could just leave us here," Nicole suggested, knowing that they weren't going to say yes, but it was worth a try.

"And come back to find the house in ruins?!" complained Petunia.

"We won't blow up the house," Harry insisted, but the Dursleys weren't listening.

"I suppose we could take them to the zoo," Petunia said slowly. "And then leave them in the car."

"The car's new," Vernon snapped. "He's not sitting in it alone!"

Dudley began to cry loudly, but he wasn't really crying. It had been years since he actually cried, but he knew if he screwed up his face and wailed, his parents would get him exactly what he wanted.

Nicole wanted to punch him. But then again, she always wanted to.

"Dinky Duddydums," Petunia said. "Don't cry. Mummy won't let him steal your special day!"

"But I don't want them to come!" Dudley said. "They always ruin everything!" Dudley shoves the two a nasty grin, as Nicole goes in to punch him, but Harry pushes her away.

Just then, the doorbell rang. "Oh good lord, they're here!" Petunia said, frantically, and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. A really ugly rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their back while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, the twins, who couldn't believe their luck, were sitting in the back of the Dursley's six-seater car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in their lives, as they smiled at each other. but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon pushed them aside.

"I'm warning you two," he said. "I'm warning you BOTH now! Any funny business, any at all! And you two will both be locked in your room from now until Christmas."

"We won't do anything," Harry said.

"Why would we?" Nicole moaned.

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe them. No one did.

The problem was, strange things happened while one or both of them were around, and it was just no good telling The Dursleys that they didn't make them happen.

Once, Aunt Petunia, sick of Harry coming back from the barbers like he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short except for his bangs, which she left to cover his 'horrible scar.' Nicole watched with horror, while Dudley had laughed himself silly. They both spent a sleepless night, where Nicole wouldn't stop ranting, while Harry was just enjoying how rebellious she would be if she wasn't so determined to not get into trouble. Next morning however, they had gotten up for Harry's hair to be exactly as it was before Aunt Petunia had sheered it off, as they both spent a week in the cupboard, even though Harry had told them neither of them were responsible.

Another time, Petunia took Nicole to the dentist, a really mean dentist, because her teeth weren't that clean. Not because Nicole never brushed them, but because they were just like that. The dentist gave her braces straight away, as Petunia watched with ease. The next morning, after another sleepless night, the braces were completely gone. Like they were never there in the first place. The twins got a month in their room for that, even though Harry wasn't there at the time.

But today, nothing was going to go wrong. Well, at least Nicole was determined not to do anything. It was even worth being with Dudley & Piers than not spending a day in their room, or school, or Miss Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

"Don't worry, Harry," Nicole said. "Nothing's going to go wrong today." They both got in the car, excited, neither one of them scared to what might happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. I was going to have this chapter to cover the entirety of Chapter 2 of the first book, but I accidentally made this chapter longer than I wanted to. The Vanishing Glass coming soon though!


	3. The Vanishing Glass

While Vernon drove, he of course complained to Petunia about things. People at work, Harry, Nicole, The Council, Harry, the bank, Nicole & Harry were just some of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.

"Roaring along like mainiacs, the young hoodlums!" he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle," Harry said. "It was flying!"

"MOTORCYCLES CAN'T FLY!" Vernon shouted.

"Settle down, Uncle Vernon," Nicole said. "It was just a dream he had once."

Nicole gave Harry a look, as it could've got them both into trouble, because as we've established, if one of them gets in trouble, they both do. No exceptions. And acting in a way that they shouldn't, by their own judgement, it didn't matter if it was a dream. Of course, sometimes little comments slipped out of Nicole's mouth too, sometimes on purpose because she just wanted to wind her stupid family up sometimes.

It was a very sunny Sunday and the zoo was crowding with other families. The Dursleys brought Dudley & Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then the smiling lady asked the twins what they wanted, before they could hurry them away, and bought them both cheap lemon ice pops.

Harry liked it, while Nicole thought lemon tasted like vomit.

"At least it's food," Harry says.

The two had the best morning they'd had in a long time. They were careful to walk a little way apart from The Dursleys so that Dudley & Piers, starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby by hurting them. They ate in a zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on it, Vernon bought him another one and Harry & Nicole were allowed to share the first.

Nicole felt afterward, that she & Harry should've known it was too good to last.

After lunch, they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley & Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras, and thick man-crushing pythons. Dudley found the largest snake in the place rather quickly. It was asleep.

"Make it move!" Dudley said, as Vernon tapped on the glass.

"Do it again!" Dudley commanded. Vernon obeyed his son, but the snake did nothing.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned, and walked away.

Nicole stared at the snake, she had always been interested in snakes, they weren't the best animals, but they were okay. A snake like that might die of boredom - living alone like that with no company, other than a few rude people drumming on the glass. Animals weren't treated nicely here, which of course, Nicole really didn't care about.

The snake opened its eyes. It woke up, as Nicole saw, it looked interestingly at Harry, and then winked. Nicole looked at her twin brother weirdly. Harry winked too. Even though they didn't know what they were winking at. The snake hissed, as fell and then...

Harry spoke in a snake-like voice, and Nicole had no idea what he was saying. Was Harry secretly part-snake?

"Harry, what are you saying and who are you talking to?" Nicole asked after a while.

"You can't hear him?" Harry questioned.

"Hear who?" Nicole said, confused.

"The snake," said Harry, as they both heard a sound which made them both jump, and maybe the snake too. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.

"Out of the way, you two!" Dudley said, pushing Harry into Nicole, as they both fell over. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

The two sat up and gasped - the glass of the front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

The snake flew swiftly pass them, as the snake hissed, escape and went.

"Can you speak snake somehow?" Nicole asked Harry, very confused.

"I don't know," Harry said.

The keeper of the glass was in shock.

"But the glass," he kept saying. "Where did the glass go?"

The zoo director made Petunia a cup of tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers & Dudley could only gibber. From what Nicole could've seen, the snake hadn't really done much, other than slightly snap after he went passed. She was still wondering about Harry though. But by the time they got back to the car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, and Piers was swearing it tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down to say "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"

Vernon waited until Piers was out of the house until he started on the twins. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "GO! BEDROOM! NO MEALS!", before collapsing into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
The twins got back to the room, where The Dursleys left them to starve.

"So, tell me what was going on," Nicole said. "Were you talking to the snake?"

"No, yes," Harry said. "I don't know."

"The vanishing glass was a mistake," said Nicole. "It was impossible you could've done it, but then again how did it happen?"

"I didn't do anything, Nicole!" Harry insisted.

"I believe you, don't worry," Nicole walked over to her brother. "When they're not looking, I'll be on food duty today."

Occasionally, when the Dursleys locked the twins in their room, they would usually sneak out to find food while The Dursleys were asleep. It was of course risky, and they have been caught before, but it was worth the risk.

"It's okay," Harry said. "I was probably hallucinating when I heard the snake talk to me anyway."

"I can imagine so," Nicole responded.

"It ruined such a good day too," Harry said. "What caused this?"

"Harry, I don't think anyone will ever know," Nicole said. "But there's an explanation for everything. We just have to be determined to find out."

The twins had lived with The Dursleys for ten years, ten miserable years, as long as they can remember, ever since they'd been babies and their parents apparently died in a car crash. She obviously couldn't remember being in the car, or however they died, and she didn't think Harry did either. She couldn't remember her parents at all. Petunia & Vernon never talked about them, and of course they were both forbidden to ask questions.

When she had been younger, she dreamed about an unknown relation taking her and her brother away, but because it was just a dream, it never happened. Something like this, always too good to be true. The Dursleys were their only family. It's not like strangers knew them on the street, as much as she wanted them to. Harry once told her about times when a guy in a shop bowed to him while she was staying home, and she once saw a random guy shake his hand recently without saying a word. It was like these random people knew Harry very well but had no idea who she was.

At school, they only had each other. They stuck to themselves. They were nicknamed 'The Odd Twins' by Dudley's gang, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.

"Well, I wonder when they're going to let us out," Nicole said.

"Let's hope it's not until the summer," Harry joked.


	4. Malfoys and Moons

"Dad, what the hell are we doing here again?" Draco asked, being on a trip with his father.

"I told you," said Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy. "It's a work trip. John invited us, it would be impolite not to take the invitation."

"But I don't like The Moons," Draco said. "They get on my nerves all the time!"

"You've only met them 3 times, Draco," said his dad. "Stop getting angry. We have to respect our fellow pure-bloods. Especially if one of them is joining Hogwarts in September."

"What?"

"The Moons have a complex relationship with Hogwarts," Lucius said. "Their relatives are always in different houses. Mostly Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. There has been a few Slytherins, but really not many. If we turn their daughter Lily over to Slytherin, then we might have another pure-blood on our side."

"So you're planning to manipulate a girl so she goes to Slytherin?!" Draco exclaimed.

"Of course," Lucius said.

"Dad, we don't even know for sure if I'm going to be in Slytherin yet," said Draco.

"Of course we do!" said Draco's father. "Name one trait you have of another house. There is literally zero chance of you ever being sorted into another house."

"Don't get me wrong," Draco explained. "I would despise it if I got any other house. Ravenclaw would be the only one I could at least tolerate, but the other two..."

"That's not going to happen, Draco," his father said. "You might say I'm being too optimistic, but I am sure you will get into Slytherin."

"If your intent is to turn a girl over to our house," Draco said, "Why'd you bring me? What is the point?"

"For one, The Moons invited the both of us. It would be suspicious if I was the only one there," Lucius said. Draco sighed. "Second, wouldn't it be more convincing if this Lily girl would be with someone her own age? You have to befriend her."

"It's only dinner," Draco said. "It's a short amount of time."

"A few hours can do more than you think, Draco," said his dad. "There's really nothing more to do."

"Fine," Draco said.

Lucius knocked on the door, and who answered it was his dad's colleague John Iristis Moon, a pure-blood from a not so well-respected family.

"Lucius," John said. "Good to see you."

"Your invitation did not say why you invited me here," said Draco's father. "But I thought that it might be rude not to come."

"Yes," John said. "We thought it would be more educational if Lily would meet a student she would be spending more time with, so she can come more familiar with the school."

"Very appropiate," Lucius said.

"Are they here?" said Jane Wasipitous Moon, "Hello Lucius."

"Jane," Lucius greeted. "Nice to see you again. It's been too long. Let's go in, I feel like some wine."

As the two wondered in, they see their daughter Lily, ready to meet Draco, who she looked to be excited to meet him. Draco was not excited to meet her. She was a pure-blood, but The Moons always felt like The Weasleys to him, never felt the true pride of being a pure-blood. Of course, they weren't as bad, but they never really thought themselves superior. They were never truly like them. His father had always done business with them though, even though he never really tried to defend them.

If this girl was going to be a Slytherin, he didn't think she was going to be a respectable one. Draco knew that not everyone in Slytherin had common sense, and should've been in another house, according to him. Maybe he was wrong, and this girl was going to turn against her family, ready to embrace her true nature, or not.

"Hi, I'm Lily," the girl said. "You must be Draco. It's very nice to meet you."

"You too," Draco lied.

"See, you're already getting along," his dad obviously lied. "Let's sit down and have some good dinner."

They all sit down for dinner, which was no different than what the Malfoys usually eat, as Lucius begins his plan.

"So, Lily," Lucius said. "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"I don't know," Lily said. "Moons never know. It could be any one of the four and I wouldn't be surprised."

"But you can tell by the traits, can't you?" Lucius said. "Every house has significant traits which you fall into. It is very possible to know beforehand."

"You're only saying that because your entire family's been in Slytherin," Lily laughed. "The Moons drop between houses. You never know where you're going to be. I actually quite like the mystery."

"So, you think you have equal chance of getting into any house?" Draco questioned.

"Not exactly," Lily answered. "Some of my friends say I'm a natural Gryffindor, others say I'm good for Slytherin." Draco laughed. How can someone be thought to be a Gryffindor or a Slytherin? Nonsense. "The other two houses, even though I'm not associated with them, you never truly know. It's different for you, Draco, you're almost surely going to be in Slytherin because of family relations. Me, I was raised by a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw, and have a brother and sister who were both in Gryffindor. You never know where it's going to go."

"You're quite a smart girl already," Lucius joked. "Why do you even need to go to Hogwarts?"

"Lily is truly a smart girl," Jane said. "We think she'll do well in any house she's in."

They continued to chat, as his father just stayed on Slytherin subjects, he occasionally nudged Draco to say something so it didn't seem like he was doing all the talking. Draco responded reluctantly, but he tried to act like he was having a good time. The food was the best part, and even then, he had it every day. Lily seemed like an interesting girl, but she wasn't fierce and determined like a Slytherin was. She obviously didn't fully embrace her true nature. She did have some Slytherin traits though, she was well-adjusted, cunning and resourcefulness. She might even have good leardership skills, even though Draco didn't know for sure.

She could do well in Slytherin. We just have to make her traits define her, and also teach her her true nature, so she not only becomes a Slytherin, but a good Slytherin. A Slytherin worth something, because again, some Slytherins never let go of their urges to respect non-pure bloods. And of course, half-bloods can exist in Slytherin, though Draco didn't hate half-bloods, they were obviously lesser, but they could still make it in society. A mudblood Slytherin, as he was told, is very rare, but it does happen.

If it happens now, then Draco would not accept it one bit. If a mudblood was in Slytherin, they would definitely be in the wrong house.

After dinner was done, they left as they talked on the way home.

"So, that went better than you thought, didn't it?" claimed Draco's father.

"I suppose so," Draco said.

"Turns out that girl has true potential to be a Slytherin," Lucius said. "More than I thought. Why aren't you smiling?"

Draco mostly smiles when his enemies get their comeuppance. Also, this dinner didn't go perfect. He still felt no attachment to Lily at all, even though he knew she had Slytherin potential. His father, however was overjoyed. He wanted as many Slytherins as possible. For some reason. This is going to be interesting. "It's just, Dad, there's still obviously a chance she won't end up there. And what if I'm not in Slytherin?"

If that happens, Draco," Lucius said. "I will literally use the killing curse on myself, because I had raised you wrong. I'm not going to fail you, Draco. And I do believe this Lily, has got a lot of stuff going for her. Come on, you can torture Dobby when we get home."

Draco smiled, as they went home.


	5. Letters from No One - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared for a LONG chapter, guys. And I mean REALLY long. I've split this chapter up into two parts again, I forgot how long the chapters were in the books. I just want to finish the Dursley chapters as soon as possible, so we can actually get to Hogwarts.

The escape of the boa constrictor earned the twins their longest ever punishment. By the time they were allowed out of their room again, the summer holidays had started (thankfully), Dudley had already broke his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and first time on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.

Nicole was glad school was over, and she was over 100% sure that Harry felt the same. But there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm & Gordon were all stupid idiots, and Dudley was the stupid of the lot, making him the leader. They were all happy to join in with Dudley's favourite sport: Twin Hunting. Which is a stupid name, but that is literally what he called it.

This is why the two spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where they could finally see a bit of hope. When September came, they were both going to secondary school, and for the first time in their lives, they wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted into Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry & Nicole were both going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet on their first day at Stonewall," Dudley said, even though he was so obviously lying. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"

"No, thanks," Harry said. "The toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it. It might be sick." Nicole laughed then, but then they both ran, once Dudley had realized what he said.

It took a while.

One day in July, Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving the twins at Mrs. Figg's. She wasn't as bad as usual, turns out she'd broken her leg by tripping over one of her cats, so she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let the two watch television and gave them a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she's had it for about a century.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for his family in his new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't lucky. This was supposed to be good training for life.

Nicole found the uniform reprehensible, Harry found it unappealing.

Vernon looked at him and said this was the proudest moment of his life, while Petunia burst into tears, because apparently he looked so handsome and all grown up. Nicole tried not to speak, but she couldn't stop herself, so she said "Seriously?" which she got told off for. Not punished, happily.

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen next morning when the twins went for breakfast. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.

"What's this?" Harry asked Petunia, as her lips tightened, because he dared to ask a question, even if it was only two words.

"Your new school uniforms," she said to both of them.

"Why are they so wet?" Nicole asked, as Aunt Petunia scowled again. She shouldn't have phrased that as a question.

"Don't be stupid," Petunia said. "And stop asking questions. I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old stuff grey for Harry, and a bunch of girl's clothes I found at the local clothes shop gray for Nicole. You'll both look just like everyone else's when I've finished."

Yeah, as if that's true, Nicole thought, but didn't say out loud incase she got told off. They sat down on the table, both thinking of how they were going to look on their first day of Stonewall High.

Probably like dirty dolphins or evil elephants.

Dudley & Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell of the twins' uniform. Uncle Vernon opened the newspaper as usual, and Dudley banged his smelting stick on the table. Nicole swore he brought that everywhere.

They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of the letters on the doormat.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Vernon.

"Make one of the twins get it."

"Harry, get the mail."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke him with your smelting stick, Dudley."

"You guys are so nice," Nicole said, sarcastically, as she got looks from all three of them. Harry dodged the smelting stick and went to get the mail. Nicole stayed and ate her breakfast, and stopped Dudley when he tried to steal a bit of Harry's. Harry was taking a while, so it's only natural that Vernon got impatient.

"Hurry up boy!" he said. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke. Nicole did wonder why he was taking so long.

He came in, and gave Vernon what looked to be a bill and a postcard. He tapped Nicole on the shoulder, as she saw a letter.

A letter. For both of them.

"Are you sure this is real?" she whispered to him.

"I'm sure," Harry said, as Nicole started to analyze the envelope.

Mr. H & Ms. N. Potter  
The dirty room upstairs  
4 Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey

She almost laughed at 'The dirty room upstairs', but tried to be quiet.

"Dad!" Dudley suddenly said. "The twins have got something!"

Harry was on the point of unfolding the letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment on the envelope. Vernon then snatched it out of his hand before either of them could get even close to reading it.

"That's ours!" Nicole shouted.

"Who'd be writing to you two?" Vernon sneered, shaking the letter and glancing at it. His face got so angry. Like it swallowed old porridge. And it changed into something weird.

Nicole wondered what the hell she was thinking. But she was more focused on where that letter came from.

"Petunia!" Vernon shouted.

Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Vernon held it high out of reach. Guess this was the only thing Dudley wanted that Nicole's aunt and uncle didn't give him. Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked like she might faint. Unfortunately, she didn't. Actually, scratch that. Vernon'll blame the twins and lock them in the room for 4 months for that.

"Vernon! Oh my goodness - Vernon!"

They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Dudley and the twins were still in the room. Dudley, of course wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.

"I want to read that letter!" Dudley exclaimed.

"We want to read it!" Nicole insisted.

"It's our letter!" Harry shouted.

"Get out, all three of you!" Vernon said, unusually, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.

The twins didn't move.

"WE WANT OUR LETTER!" they both said simultaneously.

"Let me see it!" Dudley demanded.

"OUT!" roared Vernon, at the top of his voice, and he took Harry & Dudley by the scruffs of their necks, and threw them in the hall, and then did the same to Nicole, slamming the kitchen door behind them. The three had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole. Dudley won, so the twins lay flat on their stomachs to listen at the crack between door and floor.

"Vernon," Petunia was saying, nervously. "Look at the address - how could they possibly know where they sleep? You don't think they've been watching the house?"

"Watching - spying - might be following us!" said Vernon wildly.

"What should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want-?"

The twins could see Vernon's shoes pacing up and down the kitchen like a madman.

"No," he decided. "We ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best. We won't do anything."

"But-"

"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took them in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"

As the argument ended, the three left, as the twins went back to their room, after having a really bad start to the day.

"What the hell was that?" Nicole asked.

"I don't know," Harry said.

"Is this a dream?" Nicole said, trying to explain all of it to herself. "That we're somehow both having?"

"It's something," said Harry. "Maybe we're worth more than we think."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

That evening, when Vernon got home from work, as the twins continued to talk about what just happened, Vernon did something he had never done before. Visit Harry & Nicole in their room.

"Where's our letter?" Nicole immediately said.

"Who was writing to us?" Harry demanded to know.

"No one, it was addressed to you by mistake," Vernon lied. "I have burned it."

"Seriously?" Nicole said. "You're going to play that card? It had our room on it!"

"SILENCE!" yelled Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths, and forced his face into a smile. "Er, yes - guys, about this room. Your aunt and I have been thinking, maybe for the sake of your health, you should clean it."

Clean their room? Did this guy suddenly grow a conscience?

"Why?" They both asked.

"Don't ask questions!" argued Vernon. "Now get scrubbing. I've got everything you need downstairs. Come and get it once you've done going on about yourselves."

"This must've made them really angry," Harry said when Vernon left.

"I know, right?" Nicole said. "Well, let's get to it. I don't want to waste any more time."

The twins went downstairs to get their equipment, as they continued to talk.

"What if the letter wasn't good news?" Nicole asked. "What if it was the spirits saying we are going to Hell right now?"

"It would be better than being here," Harry responded.

"Good point."

Next morning at breakfast, the two had slept in a clean room for the first time in well, probably since before their parents died. Nicole thought it was a good night. Best she's had in a while. When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, seemingly being nice to the twins, made Dudley get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick down the hall. Then he shouted "There's another one! 'Mr. H & Ms. N Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive'".

Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall. The twins followed closely after. Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made hard by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon's neck from behind (Nicole had just tagged along waiting). After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got a hit a lot by the Smelting stick (Dudley should definitely put that away once in a while). Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with the twins' letter clutched into his hand.

"Go to your bedroom, NOW!" he said to the twins, as they both ran up.

"They knew," Harry said.

"They'll try again," Nicole said. "I know they will."

"I've got a plan," said Harry. "It's not that risky."

"I've got one too," Nicole said. "But it's VERY risky. Let's go with yours for once."


	6. Letters From No One - Part 2

The repaired alarm rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly, as Nicole looked away, and then stayed in her pajamas for her stupid job of keeping watch.

"Why do I get to keep watch?" she angrily whispered.

"We need to make sure The Dursleys stay asleep," whispered Harry back. "Now go on. We need to do this."

"Fine," Nicole answered, as Harry headed down the stairs without turning on any lights. He was going to wait for the postman at the end of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. Nicole had to keep watch to make sure none of the Dursleys wake up. Way better than her plan, which featured climbing out a window and looking in the post themselves. As Harry headed down the stairs, Nicole heard a sound.

"AAAAARRRRGH!"

Petunia & Dudley got out from their bedrooms, as Nicole was in the hall, still in her pajamas, went into her room to get dressed. When she got out, it turned out that Vernon had been lying at the front of the front door in a sleeping bag, so somehow he knew about the plan. Was her plan better after all? Never mind. Vernon then shouted at Harry for half an hour, and then Nicole ran down, as he asked Harry to make a cup of tea, as he shouted at Nicole for the same amount of time, or at least he would've if the mail hadn't have came just after Harry got the tea. It flew right into Vernon's lap. The twins saw three letters addressed in green ink.

"We want-" The twins began, but Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes. Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot, unfortunately.

"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia. "If they can't deliver them, they'll just give up."

"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."

"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," Vernon said, trying to knock a nail in with a piece of fruitcake.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
On Friday, no less than twelve letters came for the twins. As they couldn't go through the mail slot, they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. Yet not Harry nor Nicole managed to pick one up. The Dursleys were being way too harsh, and the twins were really wondering what was going on.

Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors, so no one could get out. Which Dudley did get really angry about.

On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to the twins found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia to through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon calls the post office and the dairy, Nicole wasn't sure if he blamed them or not, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.

"Who on earth wants to talk to you two this badly?!" exclaimed Dudley to the twins.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
"Who is writing to us?" Nicole asked to Harry Saturday night, they've been talking a lot about this, speculating, with no conclusion to be found.

"We don't know," Harry said. "But if The Dursleys don't like it, it must be good news."

"Well, what do you think, Harry?" Nicole said. "It could be a letter from our long-lost relatives, wanting to take us back, and these 'strange ways' comments are them shaming them for not hating us."

Of course, Nicole never believed this, but she was just trying to make sense out of all of it.

"I would prefer if it was just a really long dream," Harry said. "That's most likely."

Harry was right. 

"Correct, but we want this to be good news. We've got to get at least one letter," Nicole responded.

"Well, we're going to have to wait until Monday," Harry said.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
"No post on Sundays," Vernon reminded the twins the next day, as they sighed.

"We know that," Nicole pointed out.

"Yup, no damn letters today," Vernon said.

Something came down the kitchen chimney as he spoke, and caught him sharply at the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty or maybe even fifty letters came down like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but the twins both leapt into the air trying to catch one -

"Out! OUT!" Vernon stopped before either of them got one. Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. Nicole quickly ran with Petunia & Dudley, so he didn't do the same to her. They could all hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.

"That does it!" said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly, but failing. "I want you all back here in five minutes, ready to leave! We're going away! Just pack some clothes! No arguments!"

He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing, that no one bothered to argue. Harry and Nicole quickly got into their room, looked in their wardrobes, packing the clothes.

"This is really getting him in a twist," Nicole said.

"What if they contact us from wherever we're going," Harry said.

"Possible," Nicole said, "They do seem like they were tracking us."

They spoke to each other quickly so they aren't late, and to their luck they weren't, and Dudley was later because he had packed so much. For punishment, Vernon hit him round the head for holding them up. They wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in car, speeding towards the highway.

They drove, and they drove, and they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for once. Nicole was just thinking. If this was a dream, would it be a good one or a bad one? Right now, it's a REALLY bad one.

They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nighttime, Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd mist about twenty television programs he wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.

They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast. The twins both hated it. They had just finished it when the hotel owner came over to their table.

"Excuse me, but are two of you Mr. H & Ms. N Potter? I've got about a hundred of these on the front desk," she said. She held up the letter so they can read the address:

Mr. H & Ms. N Potter  
Room 17  
Railview Hotel  
Cokeworth

The twins tried to make a grab for one, as usual, but Vernon knocked their hands out of the way. The woman stared.

"I'll take them," Vernon said.

Whatever was in that letter, Uncle Vernon certainly didn't like it.

"Wouldn't it be better to just go home, dear?" Petunia suggested, but Vernon might not have even heard her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car. The same thing happened again with a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked dully when Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and then disappeared.

Well, duh, Nicole thought.

It started to rain. Dudley sniveled as great drops beat on the roof of the car.

"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television."

Nicole and Harry smiled at each other. It was Monday, which meant tomorrow was the twins' eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, The Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of old socks. But sometimes they got each other something. But they couldn't buy that much, since The Dursleys only gave them $£5 a year as pocket money. They always managed to make cards for each other out of old paper at least.

Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Petunia when she asked him what he'd bought.

"Found the place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"

It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was for certain, there was no television there.

"Storm forecast for the night," Vernon continued gleefully, clapping his hands together. And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"

A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.

"I've already bought us some rations!" he exclaimed. "So all aboard!"

It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, and Vernon led the way to a broken-down house.

The inside was horrible. It smelt strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There was only two rooms. Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire, but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.

"Could do with some of those letters now, eh," Uncle Vernon said cheerfully to the twins.

He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Nicole agreed, but hated it. She wanted a letter like this.

As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Petunia had a few moldy blankets in the second room and made a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry & Nicole were left the softest bit of floor they could to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.

The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. They both couldn't sleep. Nicole kept turning over, even though her and Harry were using the same blanket, they were both doing it. They both tried to get comfortable, as Dudley's snores of thunder started near midnight. The light dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the sofa on the fat wrist, told the twins they'd be eleven years old in ten minutes time. This would be the first birthday in which they can't even write cards to each other, but still. They lay and watch their birthday tick nearer, as they smiled at each other, wondering if The Dursleys were going to remember at all, and where the letter writer is now.

Five minutes to go. Nicole heard something creak outside.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Harry, as quiet as she can. Harry nodded. She hoped the roof wouldn't fall in, but she knew they'd both be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that one of them would be able to steal one somehow.

Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? What was that weird crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea? One minute to go and they'd both be eleven.

"Maybe we can wake Dudley up just to annoy him," Nicole whispered to Harry, as they both laughed.

Three, two, one.

BOOM!

The whole shack shivered, as the twins sat upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, trying to come in.


End file.
